Book Description

Cotton Malone retired from the high-risk world of elite operatives for the U.S. State Department to lead the low-key life of a rare-book dealer. But his quiet existence is shattered when he receives an anonymous e-mail: “You have something I want. You’re the only person on earth who knows where to find it. Go get it. You have 72 hours. If I don’t hear from you, you will be childless.” His horrified ex-wife confirms that the threat is real: Their teenage son has been kidnapped. When Malone’s Copenhagen bookshop is burned to the ground, it becomes brutally clear that those responsible will stop at nothing to get what they want. And what they want is nothing less than the lost Library of Alexandria.

A cradle of ideas–historical, philosophical, literary, scientific, and religious–the Library of Alexandria was unparalleled in the world. But fifteen hundred years ago, it vanished into the mists of myth and legend–its vast bounty of wisdom coveted ever since by scholars, fortune hunters, and those who believe its untold secrets hold the key to ultimate power.

Now a cartel of wealthy international moguls, bent on altering the course of history, is desperate to breach the library’s hallowed halls–and only Malone possesses the information they need to succeed. At stake is an explosive ancient document with the potential not only to change the destiny of the Middle East but to shake the world’s three major religions to their very foundations.

Pursued by a lethal mercenary, Malone crosses the globe in search of answers. His quest will lead him to England and Portugal, even to the highest levels of American government–and the shattering outcome, deep in the Sinai desert, will have worldwide repercussions.

Customer Reviews:

Yet another wanna-be.......2007-10-09

Ambitious but flimsy plot, stretched way too thin. Stock characters: brash, talented, patriotic American agent; hero worshipping teenage son, brilliant European mentor, evil financial genius with ties to Al Quaida, crooked politicians, ruthless terrorists. Hackneyed situations: agent in from the cold unwillingly dragged back into the game; kidnapping of son; reluctant partnering with ex wife, who's a lawyer but somewhat dumb and obstructionist; the Arab/Israeli conflict; the Christian manipulation and misrepresentation of fact; the frantic chase through the mid-east trying to solve a cryptic riddle.
Those are the main problems with Alexandria Link, which never lives up to its billing as a thriller, and is an obvious companion of all the other daVinci Code coat tail riders. Nevertheless, if you're up for a quick few hours of mildly interesting reading, AL will do the trick. I got the audio version from the public library, and listened in the car. I wouldn't buy any version of this title, but for free, it was ok. Having read other Berry novels, I knew what to expect. Not being encumbered by specific biases about the middle east, I did not find AL particulary pro Israeli or pro Palestinian.

Rush to publish?.......2007-09-11

Berry seems like so many authors - by the time they earn a best selling reputation there best work is done. Maybe it is the outside pressure or time constaints put on authors with big contracts and printings.
This book seems like 1/2 great idea merged with 1/2 a rush job to get out his annual early year book.
It was so much a formula action adventure story. His usual thoroughness and depth is gone replaced by ridiculous double agent stuff!
The story was too big and had too many players for its length.
I gave 2 stars - bad book plus interesting ideas.
If this book sounds interesting and you haven't read his first 3 -
read any of those.

Nearly unreadable...and I'm being kind.......2007-08-31

If one wonders what is wrong with today's bestsellers, look no farther than the this "book" as an example of the latest crop of amazingly superficial mass market novels. The Alexandria Link is so dreadful, repetitive and down-right boring that one feels outright sorrow for the felled forests that made way for this waste of pulp. The plot swings wildly between Batman-like action (the TV show, not the movies) and a poorly written high school term paper about the woes of the ancient Alexandria library. Throw in a sinister group bent on global terrorism, a secret agent turned humble book store owner (who knows just a bit too much...wow, what a stretch of imagination), a clinging ex-wife, and you have one paper mache plot that goes nowhere fast.

And this takes me back to my first statement. Today's best sellers are mindless violence coupled with exotic locations, which is apparently the only type of books that major publishing houses can figure out how to market anymore. I found myself skipping whole sections, and still being disappointed at the time I wasted.

Gerry's Thoughts.......2007-08-22

I enjoyed the story even though it was not what I expected the content to be about.

Poorly written and just plain silly.......2007-08-21

I hardly know where to begin - Berry takes every cliche of the spy and mystery genre and mixes it with laughable dialogue, wooden characters, and totally unbelievable action. There's definitely an anti-Israel bias but even that I could get past if it weren't so badly written. Definitely save your money!

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Average customer rating:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Average customer rating:

Growing up Jewish in Alexandria
lovely childhood memoir
Wonderful writing, wonderful memoir
Nostalgia for the Alexandria tram and beaches
A portrait of ethnic cleansing in Egypt

Out of Egypt: A Memoir
Andre Aciman
Manufacturer: Riverhead Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1573225347

Customer Reviews:

Growing up Jewish in Alexandria.......2007-07-12

REVIEW OF "OUT OF EGYPT" for Amazon.com July 12, 2007

Andre Aciman describes his colorful and complicated life (and family)in
Alexandria in the 1960s. Childhoods like that are often the preparation
for a life of writing. The child absorbs all the peculiarities as part of
normal life without knowing they are peculiar until much later. Then they
need to make sense of it all.
All this is heightened by the fact that the Acimans are Jewish, in a
Muslim country still resonating with the after effects of British rule.His
experiences in the theoretically best school in Alexandria, run by
British teachers, would be funny if they weren't so awful. For complete
cognitive dissonance,his parents force him to learn Arabic to survive.
Reading about those lessons alone is worth the price of this book. At
home they speak Ladino, the Sephardic Yiddish, among themselves.
His beautful mother was born deaf. When provoked she can produce a
high-pitched scream. used to good effect at the butcher's. Once she has
made her point they are all quite happy. The butcher has to give the package
to her Arab servant. She never touches an Arab's hand.
The Acimans and Andre's maternal relatives live in a state of mutual
scorn, but when faced with the threats of Pan-Arab nationalism pull together very
efficiently. Eventually they all flee, the sedate Sephardic merchants
and the shady international adventurers too.
Two other writers come to mind when reading this book. Laurence Durrell
evokes something of the same atmosphere in his Alexandria Quartet and Elias
Canetti grew up in a large Sephardic family in Bulgaria. That society has
completely disappeared. Without Canetti's memoirs one would not know it had ever
existed.
This is an eloquent and elegiac account of that love and absurdity
known as a family.

lovely childhood memoir.......2007-07-06

Aciman wrote this book not only being 'Out of Egypt' like Blixen was 'Out of Africa', but as well being "Out of Childhood'. So the grown-up is looking back and remembers his extended family with live-in servants and longtime friends. Whoever loves family stories will enjoy this well-written book.

Having myself spent some summers in Egypt I would say that his kind of Egypt isn't gone completely - there is still, beneath the noise of the traffic and industries, the chit-chat of the doorkeepers, sharellas and nannies. Or the difference of daily lives in regular, in summer, during the ramadan. Egypt still works as a time machine.

Wonderful writing, wonderful memoir.......2007-01-30

This memoir is the very best I've read. It takes the author from his earliest years as part of a large Jewish family which moved from Turkey to Alexandria (he was born in 1951), through the air raid sirens during Suez war with France and England, to the expulsion of the Jews by Nasser in the late 1950s, and then on to his adulthood in America and his return to Egypt following his marriage. After a lengthy opening section dating roughly from age 5 or 6, the narrative skillfully skips back and forth in time. The descriptions of the boy's exotic world and his dysfunctional extended family are priceless, as are the re-invented conversations and arguments among the adults who surround him. There is something Proust-like in the writing, a love of detail for the texture it creates, and something Nabokov-like as well, in the hooded humor and artful language. I found it utterly captivating and written with love, especially for his mother, who was born deaf. I heartily recommend it to anyone who contemplates or is writing a memoir.

Nostalgia for the Alexandria tram and beaches.......2006-08-15

Andre Aciman's Out of Egypt is an amazing book, I found it very hard to put down. At a time of increased hostility in the middle east it is heartwarming to read of a time when Jews lived in peace with their Muslim and Christian neighbors in Alexandria. Not a whiff of anti Jewish sentiments was reported by Aciman until after the Suez War. Aciman and his family left Egypt in the sixties.

Aciman, like many "Egyptian" Jews preferred to hold European nationalities and in some cases some were French or Italian without ever setting foot in these countries. Europeans had their own courts in Egypt and did not fall under Egyptian Laws. For Aciman, born and raised in Egypt and in many ways no different than many affluent Alexandrians life became unbearable after the waves of Nationalization in the early 60's.

Aciman writes of an Alexandria that no longer exists not just for Egyptian Jews. The population explosion in Egypt has transformed Alexandria beyond recognition; hence Aciman's beautiful writing of Alexandria, its beaches and its tram will bring floods of memories for anyone who's known Alexandria.

Affluent Egyptian Jews who left Egypt in the fifties and sixties are not immediately thought of as refugees and there is little discussion on their issues of identity and affiliation in Egypt and elsewhere. Aciman through his acute sensitivity to the people and events around him and his wonderful story telling skills has produced beautifully written and very touching book that subtly challenges many assumptions on all sides.

Readers will see the very same Alexandria in Leila Ahmed's Border Passage and in parts of Ahdaf Souief's In the Eye of the Sun. Enjoy

A portrait of ethnic cleansing in Egypt.......2005-08-25

As another reviewer noted, it takes a while for the reader to get his/her bearings about the ties of blood and marriage among the characters in Aciman's memoir. The beautifully written book then becomes an elegy for a lost way of life as the cosmopolitan city that Alexander the Great had founded and that remained significantly Greek through the time of Cavafy, but underwent "ethnic cleansing" by Nasser's United Arab Republic.

It seems to me that Aciman considered himself an Alexandrian, and that he could not be "Egyptian." To say that he was a poor student of Arabic without noting that the Arabic textbooks he was supposed to use and memorize from were filled with demonization of Jews (as the first reviewer here did) is deeply tendentious. Yes, the young Aciman lived a life of privilege in a colonial (British) state (and in the kingdom of the playboy King Farouk), but post-World War II Arab states (with the Saudis supplying the kind of propaganda demonizing Jews at which Aciman bridled) did not treat "peoples of the book" as the Ottomans had. The discourse of racism documented by Aciman's memoir is of Islamist Jew-hating. Perhaps the reviewer did not actually read the book despite passing as "a reader"?

That said, Marcel Bénabou's more difficult _Jacob, Menahem, and Mimoun_ provides an account of expulsion of Jews from another Arab ethnic cleansing (in Morocco) with more geopolitical detail and similar colorful relatives for those more interested in macro history than the micro history of which Aciman supplies an exquisite slice.

Scarlett: The Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind"

Average customer rating:

Better than Gone with the Wind
This book sucks
A Perfect Book
Nice Harlequinn fluff, but not a sequel to a classic
No classic. Still worth the read.

Scarlett: The Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind"
Alexandria Ripley
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0446363251

Book Description

The timeless tale continues...The most popular and beloved American historical novel ever written, Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind isunparalleled in its portrayal of men and women at oncelarger than life but as real as ourselves.Now bestsellingwriter Alexandra Ripley brings us back to Tara andreintroduces us to the characters we remember so well:Rhett, Ashley, Mammy, Suellen, Aunt Pittypat, and, ofcourse, Scarlett.As the classic story, first told over half a century ago, moves forward, the greatest love affair in all fiction isreignited; amidst heartbreak and joy, the endless,consuming passion between Scarlett O'Hara and RhettButler reaches its startling culmination. Rich withsurprises at every turn and new emotional, breathtakingadventures, Scarlett satisfies our longing to reenter theworld of Gone With the Wind, and like its predecessor, Scarlett will find an eternal place in our hearts.

Customer Reviews:

Better than Gone with the Wind.......2007-08-28

This book is well-researched, packed with one adventure after the next, and has more likable characters than Gone with the Wind. Scarlett turns into a grown-up who actually might deserve Rhett Butler. Definitely worth the read.

This book sucks.......2007-08-27

This book is way too long, and the plot is slow, boring, and pointless. Scarlett is reduced to chasing Rett and never having him, with some pit-stops with the O'Hara's in Ireland, and the Robillards in Charleston (or somehwere in the American South, but who cares, really). I love Gone With the Wind and have read it dozens of times. I struggled to get through this book once. Ripley's descriptions of characters, places, events, etc. can't hold a candle to Mitchell's, and she embarasses herself by trying. The worst part is that in some parts of the book, the narration switches inexplicably between first-person and third-person. Why? What editor let this happen?
Alexandra Ripley should be ashamed of herself--at least proofread when you're writing a sequel to Margaret Mitchell's masterpiece.

A Perfect Book.......2007-08-23

I have waited to long to review this book. I received this book when I was 17 years old and have read and reread it time and time again. I have been a huge fan of Gone with the Wind since I was a very young girl, I remember trying to read the GWTW when I was 5, and finally at the age of 10 could get thru it, I read it at least 7 times. I also have a great love for the "South" and the history of lives before, during, and after the "war". In all that, I have read many different kinds of books on the south in all genres.

If you love the South & the Victorian Era, and want a fantastic read this is it. If you think this author is trying to write like Margaret Mitchell you will be sorely disappointed. The two authors are very different in their writing styles and both have different ideas when it comes to plots (this is NOT Gone With the Wind). If you severely compare them both you will miss out on a wonderfully written book. This author has definitely done her homework on the Southern Culture, Ireland, England, and has totally captured the Victorian Era that Scarlett goes into.

This book is basically about Scarlett shedding some, but not all of her "Southern Bell symbolism". She becomes a remarkable woman, in all the experience and wisdom she has gained thru the years. As she becomes a woman, and looses the selfish, childish ways that she had before, she travels outside of the shelled life she has lead. The travels that you go on with her (if you let it) will be a great escape for you the reader.

There is a great part in the book where she has a portrait painted of herself, this is the part where you Know she has completely grown up and has become "A Great Lady"......... she still has that spark we all love, and Southern charm, but this time she knows how to control and use it. In Europe, instead of being treated like an outcast for her personality and "vivaciousness", she is celebrated for it. They just polish her up a bit.

Alexandra has done her homework on the Victorian Era very well, and it's fascinating to see Scarlett charm all of the Aristocracy in England and Ireland. When she is in Ireland the author captures in wonderful detail life in that era, you really will feel like you are there. This is also a very easy and fluent read. It keeps you wanting to know more, and is hard to put down. Please don't compare it to Margaret Mitchell's very "Classic" writing style, just read it as a beautifully written book.

The ending is exiting, a real page turner.

It should not be categorized in a "Harlequin Romance" category. I am very insulted by that comment from another reader. I have read many romances both in many styles and genres this is NOT written in that type of style at all.

I would give this a chance and be very open minded, you will enjoy it.

Nice Harlequinn fluff, but not a sequel to a classic.......2007-08-03

Alexandra Ripley's Scarlett is a very nice historical romance novel, but it not in the same leauge as Gone With the Wind. Ripley tries to pick up a well known American classic and end it happily, but fans of the BOOK (as opposed to the movie) with be very disappointed.

Ripley's book begins with Scarlett, now a social pariah in Atlanta, attending Melanie Wilkes funeral. She realizes she doesn't have a friend in the world, and after waiting for Rhett to return, she decides to confront him at his mother's house in Atlanta. Scarlett then chases desperately after Rhett through half of the book, while Ripley describes all aspects of life and culture in Charleston. Rhett scorns Scarlett time after time. After one last failed attempt, Scarlett runs away to Savannah and meets her Irish O'Hara cousins, then she decides to visit Ireland and the rest of her "kin". In Ireland, Scarlett discovers she is pregnant, and worse still, Rhett has divorced her and married a Melanie Wilkes look alike. Scarlett makes a new life for herself in Ireland: she buys an entire Irish town and estate, becomes the most popular and beautiful jewel of Anglo-Irish snobbery, and totally morphs into a devoted mother of her daughter, Cat. Happily, Rhett's wife dies and Rhett finds Scarlett and his child in Ireland and declares that they belong together, sailing around the world as "rebels, blockade runners, and adventurers".

If Scarlett and Rhett weren't the characters of this book, I would like it. It is good historical romance. But Ripley totally changes the personalities of Scarlett and Rhett into characters Mitchell would laugh at. Scarlett is supposed to be selfish, childish, and shallow, but Ripley turns her into a typical romance novel heroine: strong, beautiful, and loving. Rhett is dark, complicated, and cruel, but in this book he is tired, passive, and reformed.

The plot also isn't true to GWTW. Scarlett gives away her beloved Tara to Suellen when she realizes "it doesn't matter anymore"! The main drive behind Scarlett was always to hold on to Tara! Rhett respected Melanie, but he would never marry someone like her! (And what self-respecting lady would marry a divorced reprobate like Rhett?) The whole Ireland concept is ridiculous, as Scarlett scorned Atlanta's social rules, let alone stricter British etiquette. Charleston accepts Rhett and Scarlett despite the mess they made of their lives in Atlanta, Rhett develops an interest in growing flowers, and all of the beloved characters from GWTW are non-existent. If it weren't for their names, you wouldn't know you were reading a sequel to Gone With the Wind!

Romantic fans of the movie who always wanted Rhett to come back to Scarlett will probably love this book. But as for the literary fans, this book is a definite pass. Don't pollute your minds with this "new" version of Scarlett and Rhett! Remember them as they are supposed to be, lost, broken, and SEPERATE.

No classic. Still worth the read........2007-07-17

This book was very well written. Ripley is obviously no Mitchell but I don't believe she deserves the raw criticism of people who've only read the book in order to justify their prejudiced opinions of a novel written by someone other than Margret Mitchell. If you are willing to allow for the fact that this book is not by Mitchell, and read it with a neutral mindset, you may be presently surprised.

If you are worried about reading the book after viewing the awful made for t.v. movie, please don't allow the movie to act as a deterrent.

Alexandria: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Unfolds (Griffin & Sabine)

Average customer rating:

as confused as ever but wanting more
Hoping for more
The Entire Griffin & Sabine Collection is a gift!
Cooling off period
Down fall

Alexandria: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Unfolds (Griffin & Sabine)
Nick Bantock
Manufacturer: Chronicle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 081183140X

Book Description

Alexandria will continue to delight the 3 million readers who fell in love with the epistolary romance of Griffin & Sabine. Awash with gorgeous artwork, the mystery of Griffin Moss and Sabine Strohem now entwines Matthew Sedon, an archaeologist steeped in Egyptian antiquity, and Isabella de Reims, a student in Paris whose vision holds the key to a new reality. Intrigue turns to danger and romance turns to passion as Matthew and Isabella struggle to make sense of a world-and feelings-beyond experience. Only the guidance of Griffin and Sabine, expert navigators of myth and reality, can keep them safe. Author and artist Nick Bantock brings a new sensuality and romance to his vivid dreamscapes and unique visual perspective. Alexandria is a breathtaking new chapter in a saga that has captured hearts, minds, and imaginations the world over.

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Customer Reviews:

as confused as ever but wanting more.......2007-10-01

After having read and reread all six of these very creative, interesting and unusual books, I still have yet to sort it all out. I have to report they are very "out there" for the person looking for a light read.
Please read them, you will be left wanting more.

Hoping for more.......2004-05-17

I like the novelty and skill in Bantock's work - I like it a lot. It's just that I don't see a lot of his novelty in this second trilogy. In the first series, a man is driven to some unseen fate by correspondence from a mysterious, other-wordly being. In this series, a couple is driven to some unseen fate by correspondence from a mysterious, other-wordly couple.

The format is very evocative. It's a voyeuristic look at the letters and postcards between the dramatis personae. We actually open the envelopes and read their mail. It gives a sense of naughtiness - "Is it OK for me to do this?" It's the same format as in the first series, though. The freshness is off it, it can't be a new experience again.

I would have been a lot happier if this series gave new information. Where is Paolo, or the Sicmon Islands? Who or what is Frolatti, and what is Frolatti's involvement? How does Sabine do - well, I'm not sure what she does.

I like Bantock's layered art (even when it's over-worked) and his fascination with stamps and postmarks. I really do want to see the story of Griffin and Sabine move forward. The tale seems to have stalled, though. Perhaps his success with the original G&S has left Bantock nervous about changing his formula.

The Entire Griffin & Sabine Collection is a gift!.......2004-02-24

These books are themselves, works of art. Not for the obvious reason of a tale well told, but for the delivery of that story as well.By way of personal corresponence, the reader is immediately drawn into the story of Griffin and Sabine, and later, Matthew and Isabella. Each postcard, stamp and letter add a graphic element that ties to the story at one point or another. Reading other's mail is unmistakably fun, but one cannot help but feel protective of these two couples; are they crazy or is someone really trying to bring them harm?

My teenaged daughter introduced them to her fellow bookloving friends at sleepaway camp and they were passed around the cabin,9 girls in all, with nothing harmed or torn when they came back home with her! That's a miracle, but they knew they weren't just reading a book,too. I recommend the entire series whole-heartedly!

Cooling off period.......2003-02-01

This book has the same visual flair as the previous books- it's the narative that seems slack. To be fair, these books are more about feeling and emotion than plot, but nothing seems to happen in this one- I didn't feel it had much focus. It might be time to wrap the plot up in a book or two.

Down fall.......2003-01-15

This was a really great story told in a really cool way but with this last book it almost all gose down hill. What was mistrious is now sappy a qultia. This is the down fall of the a great story.

Fodor's Washington, D.C. 2007: with Mount Vernon, Old Town Alexandria & Annapolis (Fodor's Gold Guides)

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Great Travel Reference
Very helpful for those visiting Washington, D. C.
Great Guide To Metro Washington DC

Fodor's Washington, D.C. 2007: with Mount Vernon, Old Town Alexandria & Annapolis (Fodor's Gold Guides)
Fodor's
Manufacturer: Fodor's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 140001719X
Release Date: 2006-10-03

Book Description

Shop in the historical neighborhood of Georgetown, visit the nation's monuments at the best time of day, touch a moon rock at the National Air and Space Museum, stroll through beautiful gardens, or stand in awe of the world's sixth largest cathedral–Fodor's Washington, D.C. 2007 offers all these experiences and more! Our local writers have traveled throughout the country to find the best hotels, restaurants, attractions and activities to prepare you for a journey of stunning variety. Before you leave for your trip be sure to pack your Fodor's guide to ensure you don't miss a thing.

The San Francisco Chronicle sums it up best –"Fodor's guides are saturated with information."

- We frequently update our Washington, D.C. guide, and we make every effort to bring you the most accurate and thorough book. Plus we provide timely updates about the area at Fodors.com.
- Unlike other travel books, Fodor's guides rely heavily on local experts who know the territory best–so you know you're seeing the real Washington, D.C.
- We give you the planning tools you need to tailor your trip. We give options for all budgets. You make the choices.

Customer Reviews:

Great Travel Reference.......2007-07-20

This covers all the bases (and maybe one too many for a family reference)if you are planning a trip to Washington, D.C. I love the itineraries that they have detailed out in the book.

Very helpful for those visiting Washington, D. C........2007-07-04

This is another in a fine series by Fodor's Travel Publications. As always, any publication is going to be out-of-date the instant that it appears, given the coming and going of restaurants, clubs, and so on. Nonetheless, this is a very helpful volume.

The map that comes with the book is fairly helpful, although it only covers a rather limited portion of D. C. There are some restaurants and hotels that I would include were I to try such a compilation. However, such reservations are pretty small potatoes and don't detract from the value of the work.

Want to know where to stay? Nice descriptions of hotels in various parts of the city are useful. Just so, a compilation of restaurants. There are a lot of choices provided, including a variety of cuisines.

Then, the little things. Where to shop? Want pens? Go to Fahrney's on F Street NW. Small space, but a great ambience and some nice pens. Newspaper clippings and autographs add a quirky but pleasant touch. In the DuPont Circle area and would like to go peruse bookstores? Karmerbooks & Afterwards on Connecticut Avenue is fun indeed. Even better, from my experience, is Second Story Books on DuPont Circle.

A nice feature is coverage of Mount Vernon, Annapolis, Alexandria, and neighboring areas.

Thinking of going to Washington, D. C. for a weekend or for a week? Take Fodor's with you to enhance the experience.

Great Guide To Metro Washington DC.......2006-11-06

FODOR'S WASHINGTON D.C. is a great guide to the District Of Columbia, as well as its Maryland and Virginia suburbs, including Mount Vernon (George Washington's home), Alexandria's Old Town, and Annapolis, MD, home of the U.S. Naval Academy. When you read some parts of this book, you just can't help feeling a strong sense of place. In addition, it tells you where the best shopping is. Whether you're travelling to the area, or are simply a proud American, this book is for you.

Clement of Alexandria and a Secret Gospel of Mark

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Decoding Mark -The Truth & Proof About The Secret Gospel of Mark

Clement of Alexandria and a Secret Gospel of Mark
Morton Smith
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

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Apocrypha | Bible & Other Sacred Texts | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0674134907

Customer Reviews:

Decoding Mark -The Truth & Proof About The Secret Gospel of Mark.......2007-05-13

Utilizing the little-known presence of word Puzzle-like mosaics called "chiasms," nationally recognized author John Dart painstakingly reconstructs Mark's Gospel in his recent book entitled 'Decoding Mark', showing exactly how the previously removed and concealed sections of the `Secret Gospel' indubitably belong in the original, and identifying sections that were added by a later editor (redactor). Any noteworthy biblical researcher worth their salt should recognize the peculiar presence of an ancient writing device called "chiasms", and educated scholars have proposed a few dozen in the Gospel of Mark alone.

However, veteran commentator John Dart, a popular interpreter of biblical research and word-puzzle militant, reports that Mark contains within its encrypted pages more than 150 chiastic patterns, large and small! The bigger shock is that this concentric mosaic word matrix prove, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the barely clothed beloved young man affair from the Secret Gospel of Mark discovered by Professor Morton Smith at Mar Saba Monastery in 1958, was indeed a part of the original Gospel of Mark! Another hidden key to the Kingdom presented in Decoding Mark is an editor who deleted the original story and inserted a miracle-laden section that 'Luke' never saw. The Secret Gospel reveals the critically important lost testimonial role played by this rich young man, beloved by Jesus, as the foremost interior joint-hero -along with the risen Christ- of the original narrative core of the Gospel of Mark. This book will lead its readers into the Innermost Sanctuary itself of that Truth, which lays veiled beneath Seven. An absolute must read for any scholar on the Golden Path that leads to lifting the veil of the Disciple Whom Jesus Loved.

And he says to me, "Write: Happy are they who have been called to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb" ...These are the true words of God.

The Greatest Story Never Told! This book hints of a very controversial story of a long-lost disciple loved by Jesus who stays with him for six days,and on the evening of the seventh day: the young man comes to Him wearing nothing but a linen veil over his naked body for an all-night ceremonial rite where Jesus teaches him the Secret Mystery of the Kingdom of God. Dart's book details how this is by far an integral part to the original version of the Gospel of Mark.

Author John Dart (Los Angeles Times, Christian Century), is a popular interpreter of biblical research and incorporates his intrinsic bible-decoding skills astonishingly making a solidified case that the ancient writing device known as 'chiasmus' sets the hacked story neatly back into the earliest version of the oldest biblical gospel, where it comes to rest... beautifully illuminating a rather evocative account of Jesus and a young man.

Moreover, when placed back in Mark 10:46a: "Then they come to Jericho," and 10:46b: "As he was leaving Jericho..." the place where Clement of Alexandria indicates these secret fragments occured, it fills a well-known lacuna in the Markan narrative.

This young man seems to play a rather important, yet veiled, role in Mark. Most notably, his reappearance in the empty tomb announcing 'He is not here, He has risen!'(Mk 16:5)suggest that this secret story of this young man's own ressurection served to foreshadow Jesus'.

And the Scripture was fulfilled which says:
'His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a Rich Man in His death, Because he had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in his mouth' [Is.53:9]....but that all the Writings may be fulfilled:
"And having left Him they all fled; and a certain young man was following Him, wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his naked body, and the young men lay hold on him, and he, having left the cloth behind, did flee from them naked."
[Mark 14:50-52] Only to return and follow the Lamb wherever He goes [Rev. 14:4]. Thus, Simon Peter was following Jesus, and another disciple[Jon 18:15]. Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following; the one who laying back on His bosom at the Supper and said, "Lord, who is the one who betrays You?" [Jon. 21:20]

Jesus said, "Recognize what is in front of your face, and that which is hidden from you will be disclosed to you. For there is nothing hidden that won't be revealed, and nothing buried that will not be raised, and there is nothing covered up that will remain unexposed." [GrGospThom 5:1-2; 6:5-6]

The beginning of the Knowledge of the Truth is to Marvel at what is already present, laying this down as the first step toward the Knowledge of the Secret things beyond. This book is crucial proof that 'the Secret Gospel' is NOT a hoax, and never was. Among good scholars, the debates the late Professor Morton Smith's research has initiated are just 'the top of the Ark'; no doubt they will continue for decades to come.

Meanwhile, 'The Secret Gospel' invites readers to peek back behind the veil, and behold the Two Witnesses of the Testimony of God joined One to Another atop the Mercy Seat. Then, and only then, may the 'Secret of the Kingdom of God' be revealed to you; "...yet for those on the outside everything is in parables; so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand; lest they should turn again, and be forgiven." [Mark 4:10]

Jesus said, "After all, there is nothing hidden except to be brought to Light, nor anything kept Secret that won't be exposed. If anyone here has two good ears, use them!"
[Mark 4:22-23]

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which even if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that were written.
[Jon. 21:25]
Decoding Mark
The Secret Gospel: The Discovery and Interpretation of the Secret Gospel According to Mark

The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern Mind

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Alexandria the conjunction of the whole world.
Excellent History
Readable History
I understand the world much better now.
Fascinating study of Western thought and learning!

The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern Mind
Justin Pollard , and Howard Reid
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Egypt | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0670037974
Release Date: 2006-10-19

Book Description

The astonishing story of the ancient city that invented the modern world

Founded by Alexander the Great and built by Greek pharaohs, the city of Alexandria at its height dwarfed both Athens and Rome. It was the marvel of its age—legendary for its vast palaces, safe harbors, and magnificent lighthouse. But it was most famous for the astonishing intellectual fluorescence it fostered and the library it produced. If the European Renaissance was the “rebirth” of Western culture, then Alexandria, Egypt, was its birthplace.

It was here mankind first discovered that the earth was not flat, originated atomic theory, invented geometry, systematized grammar, translated the Old Testament into Greek, built the steam engine, and passed their discoveries on to future generations via the written word. Julius Caesar, Anthony and Cleopatra, Jewish scholars, Greek philosophers, and devout early Christians all play a part in the rise and fall of the city that stood “at the conjunction of the whole world.” Compulsively readable and sparkling with fresh insights into science, philosophy, culture, and invention, this is an irresistible, eye-opening delight.

Customer Reviews:

Alexandria the conjunction of the whole world........2007-07-24

An outstanding book written about Alexandria Egypt. There are barely any books written on this old and historical city.
Having lived there for 30 years,it certainly appealed to me to purchase this book.
Rise and Fall of Alexandria is not only about the Ptolomies,and the library of Alexandria,or the Roman Empire.
It is the history of: philosophy,mathematics,geopgraphy,astrology,medicine,and all the intellectual minds that were born,and came to research study and die in Alexandria.
The beginning of Christianity,the translation of the Bible from Hebrew to Greek,what was Christianity and Judaism seen from the eyes of the intellectual Philosophers in Alexandria.
Who created the Pharos of Alexandria one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.
Who created roads,palaces, gardens,and libraries.How it all started and how it all ended.

It is a very easy book to read,with so much knowledge,that it would have certainly been kept in the old Alexandria Library had it survived the fire.

A must read for those who like ancient history.

Excellent History.......2007-07-04

I highly recomment this title. Its a colorful tale that covers several remarkable centuries in the life of this remarkable city. Its a rich narrative and will keep you engaged. One of my favorites

Readable History.......2007-06-23

This is a fun and easy to read story of the political and intellectual development of a unique city. For a lay person like me, it helps to organize episodes of history, putting events in their time. While there are no footnotes, there are some good timelines at the end.

It gives the reader an understanding of the great library as part lyceum, university, think tank and research center. The authors show how scholarship and knowledge were a threat to the established interests even before the middle ages.

I've often wondered how history would have played out if either Caesar or Mark Antony had prevailed. Would they have rebuilt the library/university or eventually turn on the scholars? Would we have autos by 1000 AD? This book provokes more of those thoughts.

I held back a star because some of the explanations of the philosophies bogged down the narrative. The math ones, in general, were hard to follow. They interrupt a well written story.

On p. 226 there is an illusion to Julius Caesar burning the city and library in chase of Mark Antony. This is probably a careless mistake, (since Caesar chased Pompey and Octavian/Augustus Caesar chased Mark Antony, but did he set a fire?) its being here causes me to wonder if there are other careless errors under my radar screen.

I enjoyed the book. I recommend it to the casual reader because it tells the story in an entertaining way.

I understand the world much better now. .......2007-04-22

Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern Mind. - Justin Pollard (2006) *****
For me this was a fabulous introduction to Classical civilization. I sought it out because I wanted to know what was lost at the great library of Alexandria. This book answered my question past my greatest hopes. Not only did I learn the answer to my question, but I learned more about Jewish, Persian, Greek, Roman, and Christian history than I have ever learned in one place. And I was introduced to some of the most interesting historical figures I have ever heard of. Understanding the history of Alexandria seems to be a key to understanding a world's transition from pre-historic to modern. I invested my time well.

Fascinating study of Western thought and learning!.......2007-04-17

Well written, interesting, and engaging! Covers a wide range of scientific learning and philosophical thought. I've heard a lot about the library in Alexandria, but had no idea of it's real significance.

The Alexandria Quartet Boxed Set (Alexandria Quartet)

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Unreadable Dreck
A PASION FRUIT
A Broken Beauty
The Anti-Proust?
A successful experiment

The Alexandria Quartet Boxed Set (Alexandria Quartet)
Lawrence Durrell
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0140153179

Customer Reviews:

Unreadable Dreck.......2006-07-26

The blurbs on this volume give the game away: the notices (one from Newsweek and one from the long-defunct New York Herald Tribune) date from its release a half-century or so ago. Indeed, the Alexandria Quartet hasn't aged well, but between its puerile conceits and purple prose, I find it hard to believe it was ever well received. (I asked an older friend how it had managed to gain a reputation and he attributed its success to the boredom of the late 50s. "Could that explain Mailer too?" quipped another friend of mine.) I was drawn to the Quartet because I was intrigued by its structure: four volumes recounting roughly the same events from four different perspectives employing various narratorial devices. Also, as a fan of Proust, the promised psychological approach and, yes, lurid subject matter appealed to me. But 70 pages in, stuck in a novel-within-a-novel even worse than the actual one, I couldn't bear it anymore. If you're thinking of buying this book, read the opening paragraphs, with their multiple ellipses and exclamation points, to give you a taste of what you'd be in for. If you're in the mood for a multivolume meditation on love and friendship that vividly depicts a time and place--and is witty to boot--check out Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time or the big guy, Proust himself.

A PASION FRUIT .......2006-06-05

Well... i read the Alexandrea Quartet many years ago and i was completely amazed by the way Durrell could recreate the real and external world of a group of friends who lives in Alexandria while their internal peregrination. In my personal opinion the best characters are Justine and Clea. And not because i am a woman but because they are sharp and also round and full of shades. Eventhough you can read each book separeted it is much better if you read the whole quartet.

A Broken Beauty.......2006-01-16

With its non-linear structure, sensuous prose, and cast of characters buffeted and beleaguered by love, this tetralogy is one of the masterworks of the twentieth century, and remains the finest work of literature to emerge from Alexandria.

Durrell jotted notes toward his "Alexandria novel" in the tower of the Ambron Villa, but began writing Justine, which he initially called his "Book of the Dead," in Cyprus in 1953. Soon after their arrival in Cyprus, Eve Cohen, Durrell's second wife, became depressed, then psychotic. Durrell had her confined in a hospital in Germany, and brought his mother to Cyprus to help him with Sappho, his daughter with Eve. Rising at four-thirty am, he wrote in longhand so as not to wake Sappho, before leaving to start teaching at seven. He typed out his week's work on weekends. In a letter to Henry Miller, he noted "never have I worked under such adverse conditions," but commented also: "I have never felt in better writing form."

Justine investigates its characters by laying down scenes and moments with little concern for chronology; instead, like a mosaic, the pieces link up to form a whole. This broken, cluttered style echoes the love lives of the characters, who are continually floundering within relationships: deceitful, forlorn, exhausted, cynical. Justine, the central character, is based on Eve, to whom the book is dedicated, and it is her portrait that emerges most fully, though there are no caricatures in the Quartet. The prose is miraculous, the metaphors always fresh, ideas and images crushed together to form an angular beauty.

Eve left Durrell before he had finished Justine, but he shortly thereafter met Claude Vincendon, who had grown up in Alexandria. Inspired by her love and memories, he completed Justine, and conceived the idea of a series of books "using the same people in different combinations." Balthazar is the equal of Justine in its imagery and investigation of character; of the tetralogy, these two are closest in spirit. Mountolive, more traditional in its storytelling, relates the love affair between David Mountolive, a British civil servant, and Leila, a married Copt. Clea, an homage to Claude, and dedicated to her, moves forward in time. Darley, the narrator of Justine, returns to Alexandria after the war, where he falls in love with Clea Montis, and they reminisce about their acquaintances. Less successful than the previous three in some ways, it nevertheless contains some vivid scenes, and the writing remains delicious.

Justine was an instant critical and popular success upon its publication. The Quartet cemented Durrell's reputation and made him a perennial favorite for the Nobel Prize.

The Anti-Proust?.......2005-09-28

Yes, I thoroughly agree that this is a well-penned novel exploring what Durrell calls "modern love". It is also, perhaps above all, a beautiful, harrowing description of a love for a place and time, prewar and immediate postwar Alexandria. My primary problem with the work lies in the author's stated intent in composing this work, as stated in the Introductory Note to Balthazar, epitomised in one sentence: "This in not Proustian or Joycean method-for they illustrate Bergsonian "Duration" in my opinion, not 'Space-Time'."--Whatever can he mean? I asked myself when first reading this asseveration. Now, having completed my reading, I ask myself if it means anything at all, this putative appropriation of Einsteinian science to literature.

For this novel is nothing if not Proustian--Indeed, many of the introspective digressions are almost verbatim quotes from Proust. I don't see how Joyce enters into the picture at all. This is so clearly a work infused with French and expat French culture intermingling with English and Arabic, that its affiliation with Proust is even more accentuated. Furthermore, Joyce was never influenced by the Bergsonian notion of "Duration." And, though many who write about Proust contend that he was so influenced-He certainly read Bergson, anyway.-the connexion seems very tenuous to me, having read them both myself.

There are a few other problems. At times, this work seems like a pastiche of other works. The Dickensian-named Pusewarden, for instance, is so obviously, in his style and his philosophy a pale copy of the Doctor from Djuna Barnes's "Watchman, What of the Night!" chapter of her brilliant book, Nightwood, that it's almost embarrassing to read his declamations. Of course, he lets his real poetic genius be known to Darley in those letters, subsequently burned. But we never get to read them!

If Durrell's purpose was to usurp Proust's place as the authority on the prismatic, shape-shifting character of love, modern or otherwise, then he has signally failed. All one has to do is read Proust to see this.

If, on the other hand, his ambition was to create a delicious, brilliantly wrought and worded, portait of a certain time and place and a depiction of the ever-elusive qualities of the lives and loves therein, he has smashingly succeeded. Thus, all quibbles aside, it's well worth the read.

A successful experiment.......2005-02-21

The Alexandria Quartet was an attempt to tell the same story from different points of view, without puting the reader to sleep with repetition. It was also four very fine novels.
I recommend a facsimile edition, if any exist, so as to get the original type font, which is evocative without getting in the way of the reading. Nothing, in fact, gets in the way of the reading--not Durrell's ambitions plan for the four novels, nor his numerous opinions on life, people, and literature, nor the most exotic setting for any great novel that I can remember.
If you don't care much for great literature, read this for its readability, and for a look at two things that seemed permanent when the books were written, but are now vanished: the British Empire, and the separate world of "the East," spreading from Turkey to Japan.

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La maestría de un estilo y una cosmogonía

Alexandria Quartet Boxed Set
Lawrence Durrell
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literature & Fiction | Boxed Sets | Formats | Books
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ASIN: 0525477950

Customer Reviews:

La maestría de un estilo y una cosmogonía.......1997-11-28

Quisiera, en primer lugar, señalar que mi acercamiento al texto no es en la lengua que lo gestó sino en castellano, lo que lo hace mitad hechura de su traductora, Aurora Bernárdez, esposa del difunto Julio Cortázar. Sin embargo, la pulcritud de sus trabajos previos asegura de ella una fidelidad al sentido de la obra que pocos autores podrían tener sobre sus versiones en otras lenguas. Durrell, en lengua de Cervantes, afirma virtudes inconmovibles: un narración fragmentaria, sostenida en el continuum del tono lírico, tono que no paraliza el tiempo, o mejor aún , lo diversifica en ramajes y sutilezas de psicólogo u observador nato que vuelven la morosidad de la novela un deleite inapreciable. Pero esto no significa que no sucedan cosas en la novela, suceden cientos de hechos, pero he ahí el mérito de Durrell: cultivar la poesía sin perder la vitalidad de la sucesión de los acontecimientos que envuelven a los personajes en conflictos particulares, en el marco de una ciudad milenaria que se pudre, metropoli que, precisa y borrosa, se mece en la calma chicha de las entreguerras. En esta ciudad, como esforzado teórico, pero a la vez como escritor pasional, Durrell dislumbra la obsesión central de su narrativa: la verdad como posesión del sujeto que conoce y, como consecuencia, la múltiple interpretación de un hecho, según su espectador y las circunstancias vitales de éste. Suerte de relativismo declarado, pero también de espíritu barroco moderno, Durrell despliega el mismo escenario en cada una de las cuatro novelas de su saga, pero lo muestra siempre distinto, dependiendo del personaje que privilegia como foco de su relato. Y cada personaje foco es a la vez un rol de los variados que juega un solo individuo en la sociedad humana: el yo más íntimo, el tú dialogante del círculo social inmediato, el ello de una sociedad que se mueve en la esfera de la política, y sobre estos, la percepción del paso del tiempo. Durrell, se dijo, escribió con el cuarteto de Alejandría la novela romántica del siglo XX. Y, por supuesto, es una novela de amor, pero creo, además, es una cosmogonía válida que clausura el siglo, y abre camino a otras búsquedas acuciosas, en espera de la nueva física que nos de el siglo XXI, esa física que, como lo hizo la Teoría de la Relatividad con el Cuarteto, nos de otra gran novela

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